Chance to drink in the king’s head at museum

York will again be able to look into the eyes of King Richard III when his reconstructed head goes on show at the Yorkshire Museum this Friday, July 19.

The replica head – made from detailed scans of Richard’s skull – will take pride of place in a new display looking at what is really known about the last Yorkist king.

It is part of York’s city-wide programme of events marking the importance of Richard III to the city.

The head will be on show from July 19 until October 13.

“We are delighted to be able to bring to York this construction of Richard III’s head. The discovery of his bones in Leicester has ignited a lot of interest in Richard III and his connections to the city,” said Andrew Morrison, head curator at York Museums Trust.

“We will use the head as a centre piece to a new display looking at what we really know about the king – separating the facts from the fiction which so often surrounds him.”

King Richard’s reconstructed head was commissioned by the Richard III Society. The model head relies on pin-point details from a CT scan taken of the king’s skull by Leicester Royal Infirmary, following the discovery of his remains beneath the Greyfriars car park in August 2012 by a team of archaeologists from the University of Leicester.

It was created by the forensic art team of the University of Dundee, and offers the most accurate yet interpretation of what King Richard could have looked like in life.

The head will go on display in the museum’s Medieval Gallery, which also shows some of the museum’s fantastic objects connected to the king. These include the Middleham Jewel, which was found at Middleham Castle, Richard’s childhood home, and a silver boar badge which would have been worn by a loyal supporter of the king.

The Yorkshire Museum will run a number of summer events connected to Richard III, including hands on activities, a display of Richard III related books in the museum library and an actor dressed as the King during the summer holidays.

• Read all our Richard III stories here